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Cloning Active Directory Domain Controllers

A new feature in Server 2012 allows domain controllers to be cloned to allow easy domain controller provisioning. We will demonstrate the main steps required to achieve this using PowerShell.

You need to meet a few pre-requisites before actually cloning the domain controller:

The PDC emulator FSMO role must be held on a Windows 2012 Domain Controller

The server to be cloned must be running Windows Server 2012

The Hypervisor must support DC cloning – (Hyper-V 3) (if the hypervisor is not supported for DC cloning, the DC will reboot into DSRM mode)

You need to be a member of local administrators on the Hyper-V host

To use the export / import feature on two different hyper-v servers make sure the virtual network switch is named the same

You should not clone a VHD or restore a snapshot that is older than the tombstone lifetime value (or the deleted object lifetime value if Active Directory Recycle Bin is enabled). If you are copying a VHD of an existing domain controller, be sure the VHD file is not older that the tombstone lifetime value (by default, 60 days). You should not copy a VHD of a running domain controller to create clone media.

Follow these steps to clone your domain controller:

Add the domain controller to be cloned to the Cloneable Domain Controllers Group